| Cooking in Sunshine |
| India is blessed with abundant sunshine. It
receives 5,000 trillion kilowatt hours per year of solar energy. Several solar
technologies have been developed to harness this renewable form of energy. The solar
cooker is an example of a solar thermal technology. The different types of solar cookers
includes the box solar cooker for a family of 4 to 5 members, a community solar cooker for
about 40 people and the solar steam cooking system that can cook for people of about
thousand. The world's largest solar steam cooking system, used to cook for around 15,000
people per day, has been installed at a temple in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, and is
functioning satisfactorily since October 2002. A solar box cooker is a slow cooking
device useful for small families. It can cook four dishes at a time and can save around
three LPG cylinders in a year if used regularly. The solar cooker is the most
decentralised and compact system possible. One can use it in a place cut off from the
outside world – indeed in Kargil where our Jawans are using it. A total of around
530,000 box solar cookers have been sold in the country. The Gujarat Energy Development
Agency (GEDA 1979) calculates that the use of solar cookers by about 2000 families for 10
years would mean a saving of Rs 3.6 million in terms of reduced firewood consumption, or
Rs. 100 million worth coal or Rs. 8.55 million worth kerosene (as per 1979 prices). |
Do-It-Yourself: Build a Solar Cooker
Reflective Panels
1. Draw the outline of the reflector segment and cut
the 4 cardboard segments.
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 2. Spread the glue evenly over the cardboard
segments and cover them with Aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Avoid wrinkles and
creases as this would decrease the efficiency of the reflector. |
 3.
Arrange the panels keeping a 2mm space between them as shown below. The wide sections
alternating with the narrow sections. Use a duct tape to join them. Flip the panel on the
other side and reinforce the joint.
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| Insulated Box
 1. Fasten the cardboard to
the bottom of the reflector by its flaps using the duct tape. Be sure the box is centered.
 2. Shred some newspaper and
put it into the gaps between the box and the reflector.
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Baking Chamber
  1. In a plastic container mix black tempera paint
with one teaapoon of white glue and two teaspoons of water.
2. Apply two coats of this
black paint evenly over the inside of the aluminium foil loaf tin and set it aside to dry.
 3. Find painted tins that fit exactly in your
baking chamber.
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 Test It
1.
Preheat the painted tins inside the solar cooker before cooking with them.
2.
Place the baking chamber into the bottom of the reflector.
3.
Prop up the reflector with the help of bricks etc to keep it at right angle to trap more
heat from the sun.
Your dishes are ready !!!
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